I read sites that seem to be slanted as review sites from time to time. Sometimes I find out later that a particular company created that site which is obviously a deceptive way to sell your product. I feel this way about some of the detector review sites.

I actually had lunch with 2 local cops last week. I was in the V eating at a curb service type of burger joint, sitting at a picnic table outside. Two motorcycle cops pull in and as they get off their bikes one looks around and yells: "WHO'S CAR IS THIS"? I was the only one out there so I just laughed. He say's: "YOU WERE SPEEDING"! I answered , "Not TODAY I wasn't" and they laughed. They ordered their food and I waived them over. We told stories the whole time. They shared enforcement stories and I shared "kills and speed" stories. It was pretty funny from beginning to end. They also shared what pigs their bikes were not being able to catch the most simple cars from time to time who weren't even trying to get away.

Back on topic.......

I'd like to have both in one product, jammer and detector. Here in GA laser seems to be the preference of law enforcement but I also see my share of radar. One thing for sure is that all of the police departments enforce speed for the revenue stream. We all pretty much drive 10-20 over depending on where you're at, all they have to do is pick ANYONE to write a ticket. At least they seem to wait until a 30-40 over flies by unless it's the end of their shift. Then, anyone will do.

What do you use? What have you sh!t canned because it was junk?

Help me make a good informed decision.

B.

IBMike

10-09-12, 01:47 AM

The Valentine One (V1) has been one of the top rated and most popular devices for years. I used to be an Escort fan, until I found a good deal on a used V1 on ebay that I couldn't pass up. Once you have directional indicators, you'll be lost without them. On numerous occasions I've been tailed by LEO; knowing he was rolling up behind me was great... goose it a little around curves and over hills, put distance between us, and eventually put enough distance to get back on it. Knowing they're coming from the front and when they roll past you, priceless; especially for unmarked cruisers. My V1 has paid for itself 100 times over!

I had a Blinder Laser jammer on my Goldwing years ago. Experienced 2 cases where I'm confident if saved my ass. 0200, I'm the only vehicle on the road, going 20 or so over; laser indicator pops up on my V1; I drop speed (not slamming on brakes to make it completely obvious), flip off the jammer and get tagged again, at the speed limit... and then pass the cruiser sitting under an over pass... and he left me alone. Similar situation on an afternoon in sporadic traffic; might have tagged me, might have hit another car but I was rolling considerably faster than the flow of traffic, so I can only assume he tagged me. Same results, no response. YMMV.

Stillborn

10-09-12, 02:19 AM

v1 with blend mount and inviso cord is the way to go.

http://www.blendmount.com/

neuronbob

10-09-12, 07:01 AM

I have a v1 with Blendmount and Invisicord as well. The arrows are indeed more than a gimmick.

dcc8203

10-09-12, 08:50 AM

What stillborn said!

VinATL

10-09-12, 08:53 AM

I just watched a video on the other place where a V with this:

http://laser-interceptorusa.com/

Gets hit. THe video was about his dashcam, but made me look hard at that system. It's pricey... but seems to do well in all the tests, and has the most JTG's of any of them.

I'm with you Brian, looking into this as well. I have an 8500 that's kind of tired, and got that after my V1 got damaged. I can say that in my not so humble opinion, a laser system plus a V1 is the best you can do.

The arrows really are the shit, and I definitely missed them with the Escort.

McGuffy

10-09-12, 09:15 AM

I like the Escort pretty well. There's no really good defense against lasers though; jammers can delay the reading maybe long enough for you to slow down, but if they get you, they got you.

Hotrod-Realtor

10-09-12, 09:38 AM

Escort 9500 for me. I had a V1 for many years and just traded up. The arrows were handy I will admit but no matter when I would get alerted to radar, I slowed down. Let's face it. If the radar goes off and continues to go off, it is traveling with you. If it goes off and soon stops, it was sitting still or going against you.
What I really love about the 9500 is it's gps ability to eliminate false readings. In other words when you drive past a fixed radar reading twice, the 9500 recognizes it's probably a grocery store and the next time you pass it, it says nothing. The cool thing is I occasionally go to Myrtle Beach for a weekend getaway. The first time I drove down I bet the thing went off 30 times. The second time I went down it went of 1 or two times and both times it was LEO shooting radar. Not a peep from all the grocery stores, and other radar emitting devices.

IBMike

10-09-12, 10:45 AM

Escort 9500 for me. I had a V1 for many years and just traded up. The arrows were handy I will admit but no matter when I would get alerted to radar, I slowed down. Let's face it. If the radar goes off and continues to go off, it is traveling with you. If it goes off and soon stops, it was sitting still or going against you.
What I really love about the 9500 is it's gps ability to eliminate false readings. In other words when you drive past a fixed radar reading twice, the 9500 recognizes it's probably a grocery store and the next time you pass it, it says nothing. The cool thing is I occasionally go to Myrtle Beach for a weekend getaway. The first time I drove down I bet the thing went off 30 times. The second time I went down it went of 1 or two times and both times it was LEO shooting radar. Not a peep from all the grocery stores, and other radar emitting devices.

Been awhile since I checked out the latest technology... gotta admit, that is pretty slick!

cdog533

10-09-12, 01:10 PM

Yes, V1s are great but have false alerts constantly in an urban environment. The 9500 doesn't make a peep outside of legit threats.

I haven't done a laser shifter yet, but it seems like some of the 'review' sites are really just shilling for a particular manufacturer.

RGaret

10-09-12, 01:11 PM

I have a good lawyer. Pleads my speeding tickets down to seat belt violations. No points. Probably more expensive than what you guys are doing, but still effective.

flatrockguy

10-09-12, 09:04 PM

Escort 9500 with blendmount. Skip the invisacord and make your own for a couple bucks..

BWhite58

10-09-12, 09:32 PM

Anyone use the Escort 9500ci ? The laser shifting looks interesting .

Crystal Red CTS-V

10-09-12, 11:23 PM

v1 with blend mount and inviso cord is the way to go.

http://www.blendmount.com/

Totally agree!

IBMike

10-10-12, 12:33 AM

Anyone use the Escort 9500ci ? The laser shifting looks interesting .

Sounds pretty damn impressive on their website!

http://www.escortradar.com/passport9500ci-details.php

----------

Escort 9500 for me. I had a V1 for many years and just traded up. The arrows were handy I will admit but no matter when I would get alerted to radar, I slowed down. Let's face it. If the radar goes off and continues to go off, it is traveling with you. If it goes off and soon stops, it was sitting still or going against you.
What I really love about the 9500 is it's gps ability to eliminate false readings. In other words when you drive past a fixed radar reading twice, the 9500 recognizes it's probably a grocery store and the next time you pass it, it says nothing. The cool thing is I occasionally go to Myrtle Beach for a weekend getaway. The first time I drove down I bet the thing went off 30 times. The second time I went down it went of 1 or two times and both times it was LEO shooting radar. Not a peep from all the grocery stores, and other radar emitting devices.

Of course V1 has a rebutal for why you shouldn't rely on this lol

http://www.valentine1.com/gps/

bbang

10-10-12, 12:40 AM

I had a escort 9500CI installed within the first month on my 2012 Vagon. Clean installation, can't even tell that it's there...until the alarms start screaming. expensive..yes cannot use it in others cars...yes..but it is saved my ass well over 50 times going to Vegas and up I-5 to wine country. and don't have to mess with cords and some ugly looking thing hanging off of mirror or windshield.

Jammers work great. but you must slow down quickly after being tagged..because there second reading with showup on there gauge. I am going to install a on/off switch on brakes lights so I will not be pinpointed out of a group of cars. Friend did that and works great. But make sure switch is on in city driving or youare going to have someone drive up your up your ass...

MacBuster

10-10-12, 01:35 AM

GPS....waht happens if a cop is sitting in the grocery store, or whatever.

IBMike

10-10-12, 02:51 AM

Just checked; laser jammers are illegal in CO... guess that is out for me, especially since the law says they can confiscate and destroy them!

Brian in GA

10-10-12, 08:10 AM

You can go to this site to look up Jammer laws in your state: http://laser-interceptorusa.com/11201.html

I'm clear to use one here in Georgia. I would still cut it off after slowing down though.

VinATL

10-10-12, 08:35 AM

In laser avoidance protocol, you never, NEVER want to actually JTG (jam to gun) -- LEO's know about that, and will surely pull you over for something else if you go out of your way to piss them off.

Upon alert, which means the jammer/shifter is working, the gun is getting either an error or an incorrect reading (etc, depends on gun). During this time, you're slowing down. Once you hit the PSL, you flip off the jammer, and let Mr. Oshifer get a reading at/near the PSL. Everyone goes home happy.

If you still get pulled, ask to see the reading. Jammers/shifters aren't perfect, and he might be able to punch through -- or he might not have gotten you, and wants to see why. Be nice.

If you're driving like an assclown, don't expect any of this to help. And when you do get pulled, don't be a dick.

thebigjimsho

10-10-12, 03:37 PM

I've had V1s for 18 years. Love them! As for falses, I don't even notice them. When a Ka band goes off, though, you can bet I snap to attention. Kind of like a parent with a baby.

Anyone who says a detector is a waste is wrong. Even if you are nabbed with laser or instant-on, knowing exactly where you were tagged goes a long way when fighting the case...

Brian in GA

10-10-12, 03:59 PM

In laser avoidance protocol, you never, NEVER want to actually JTG (jam to gun) -- LEO's know about that, and will surely pull you over for something else if you go out of your way to piss them off.

Upon alert, which means the jammer/shifter is working, the gun is getting either an error or an incorrect reading (etc, depends on gun). During this time, you're slowing down. Once you hit the PSL, you flip off the jammer, and let Mr. Oshifer get a reading at/near the PSL. Everyone goes home happy.

If you still get pulled, ask to see the reading. Jammers/shifters aren't perfect, and he might be able to punch through -- or he might not have gotten you, and wants to see why. Be nice.

If you're driving like an assclown, don't expect any of this to help. And when you do get pulled, don't be a dick.

2 years ago, I was ticketed for the first time in 20 years. I was flying, north of 140mph and the cop was right next to me at the same speed. He blipped the siren and I almost sh!t my pants. When he walked up to my car, he stood at about 7 oclock so I couldn't see him over my shoulder and didn't say a word. I was just smiling shaking my head because he pretty much had me dead to rights. There was a silence that seemed to last forever. I threw my arms up and said "I got nothin" laughingly. He still didn't say anything but moved up where I could see him and he was smiling, I just laughed and said "I still got nothin, I'm trying but but there's nothing there". He just laughed. His lights were on so his dashcam was reording and he says " You must've been going .....at least 75 up that hill" I said that sounds about right.

After he came back from running my license, he wrote me a ticket for 69 in a 55 (Interstate Hwy) and said that I might want to consider just paying this online and not dragging this to court.

I don't know if he got a gun on me, I don't think he did. He also couldn't have been next to me for more that a couple seconds because he told me where he got on. Regardless, I paid online and have a good story to go with the first ticket 20 years.....and it happened to be on my anniversary which never came up but the wife would've killed me if he had arrested me.

B.

JFJr

10-10-12, 04:21 PM

My Passport 9500ix was expensive but has paid for itself several times over. I hate false alarms and this detector does a good job of reducing them while maintaining great sensitivity.

Jud

b4z

10-10-12, 07:00 PM

Was On i26 north of charleston sc in moderate traffic in the srx and I said to myself why is that guy standing beside a car pulled over on the shoulder? BRAAAaKES! Half a second later the escort laser warning goes off. He was literally too slow on the trigger. One of those rare cases where the eyes beat the electronics.

Hotrod-Realtor

10-10-12, 11:55 PM

GPS....waht happens if a cop is sitting in the grocery store, or whatever.

My understanding is the detector sees the band at the grocery store and if there is a different band, it will scream at you. For example, if the grocery store uses x band for the door and a cop is using KA, it alerts you. Furthermore, if the cop in my example is using the same x band as the store, it should identify a different frequency and alert you.
According to the V1 rebuttal, there is a chance the cop could be using the same band and the same frequency. If that happened you would probably get a ticket. But hey, what are the chances of a cop using the same band (1 in 3) AND the exact same frequency. I bet it's very slim.
For me, when a radar detector is constantly going off on box store door openers, I tend to ignore it. I would be much more likely to get a ticket in that scenario versus my prior example.

Gary Veeeee

10-11-12, 12:29 AM

I think someone said earlier I have a good lawyer yeah I have a clean license only cost me about $5000 and I have at least 15 parking on pavement tickets. LOL all about money you pay the fine you can have a clean license. However what I'm reading here it's between the V1 and the escort 9500 do both detectors go front and back.? Also the laser jammers I have heard And it's been brought up ,that LEO do you know when you're jamming. It would seem that would piss them off even more. I had an older Vette 91 red and the car was quickly recognized by most LE. However locally I have a brother-in-law that is a big wig with the sheriffs Sheriffs department even if I get a ticket's name can get me reduced without any problems. With the magnum that was black and wagon no one messed with it went fast but didn't get much attention. Now the Coupe ,Vivian , I've had two months and I don't know if I'm paranoid or what ,but seems I have the law on my bumper almost every time I'm out and they follow right on my ass. I don't know it's it's the rarity of the car or they're just waiting for me to do something. When I go out and really play with the car I go about 50 miles south where there is only NYP that patrol not local PD. Never have had a need for a detector but I'm seriously looking into the purchase. So I guess what should I be looking for V1or escort and lazer jam. I'm thinking just the detector right now.Jammer seems to me could get you into more trouble than it's worth. I don't think New York has any problem with any of them, it might. Is this the latest technology out or is there anything better. Sorry if this information was already posted I will go back and read through also check the videos thank you

IBMike

10-11-12, 12:30 AM

My understanding is the detector sees the band at the grocery store and if there is a different band, it will scream at you. For example, if the grocery store uses x band for the door and a cop is using KA, it alerts you. Furthermore, if the cop in my example is using the same x band as the store, it should identify a different frequency and alert you.
According to the V1 rebuttal, there is a chance the cop could be using the same band and the same frequency. If that happened you would probably get a ticket. But hey, what are the chances of a cop using the same band (1 in 3) AND the exact same frequency. I bet it's very slim.
For me, when a radar detector is constantly going off on box store door openers, I tend to ignore it. I would be much more likely to get a ticket in that scenario versus my prior example.

Given the explanation, what if there is a speed trap that is always in the same location. Once you pass it a couple times, wouldn't it think it was a stationary source and block it?

Hotrod-Realtor

10-11-12, 12:45 AM

Given the explanation, what if there is a speed trap that is always in the same location. Once you pass it a couple times, wouldn't it think it was a stationary source and block it?
There is a construction area where I live where fines are $250 plus and it is a magnet for cops. Whenever the cops are in that area my detector always goes off. My guess would be that they are not there every time I go by therefore the detector doesn't "remember" the area and mark it as a non threat. Also the chances of the radar gun being the exact same frequency is minimal. Several different cops hang out in that area and they use different guns (frequencies).
The other important item is the different radar bands. The newer band seems to be KA and I don't believe box stores use that band. I also don't think that the radar detector marks KA band as non threats because they are utilized by LEO only.

kwilson

10-11-12, 12:46 AM

K40 RL360 with EX2 laser defuser and have nothing but good things to say about it !! I spent a little extra and bought the nav-tv GR-R40 Radar detector interface that shows warnings and On/Off status of the K40 radar detector as messges on the cluster instead of the detector's own LEDs.

98525

98526

dennych

10-11-12, 01:40 AM

Always hear back and forth between which radar detector is the best. One thing I know for certain is I'm gonna mount it on the mirror and inviscord that sucker. Can anyone comment on how difficult it is to install the invisicord?

JFJr

10-11-12, 10:41 AM

Guys, you may not know that a radar's frequency "drifts" slightly when there are temperature changes during normal seasonal changes. With the Passport 9500ix that means that the motion detectors, etc., that have been "learned" and no longer trigger alerts, have to be "learned" again by the detector to keep from getting alerts every time you pass them. Obviously, that suggests how unlikely it is that police radar would exactly match up to a K band motion detector. But if you know an area where police radar is frequently present, common sense tells you to slow down in that area, regardless if you get a signal. Land-based electronic warfare measures and countermeasures change all the time, so no system is perfect.

Jud

KFinnell81

10-11-12, 05:30 PM

I have owned multiple 9500ci systems and have always been very pleased with them. Have saved my ass plenty. Especially here in GA, where laser is the weapon of choice recently. Just got mine installed on the V and it looks damn good. Had it custom built onto the steering column and the laser shifters flushed into the grille. Haven't been hit by a laser yet, but I am sure its just a matter of time...

Brian in GA

10-11-12, 05:52 PM

I have owned multiple 9500ci systems and have always been very pleased with them. Have saved my ass plenty. Especially here in GA, where laser is the weapon of choice recently. Just got mine installed on the V and it looks damn good. Had it custom built onto the steering column and the laser shifters flushed into the grille. Haven't been hit by a laser yet, but I am sure its just a matter of time...

I use a V1. I mount it in multiple cars but I have a blendmouint for it in my CTS-V. I need to hard wire it but I've just been plugging it in. Laser detection is pretty much useless unless you happen to have a car in front of you that the laser bounces off of. If he directly targets you with the laser, your detector is just telling you that you are about to get pulled over. I find they use Laser a good bit in NY State. I do a lot of traveling and Ka seems to be the most used on the east coast. I have X turned off as very few Police still us that. It is usually those traffic radar signs that use X.

I like the 9500ci for all the bells and whistles but I honestly, I don't like that it will capture false radar spots and not signal on them again. I know one department in my area sets up in an area where you always pick up a radar signal. Maybe you can turn that off. The other things it can do are cool, but I really don't need them. It gets very good reviews so I think it certainly a contender.

I have had 2 V1's and the first I had for many years. I threw it in when selling a car so I bought a new one 4 years ago and it has never let me down. You learn how to pick up real signals from fake ones but it does take some time to learn it. Some will say the arrows on the V1 are a gimmiick. Just today I was coming back from Albany, NY on 87 and I kept picking up a moderate signal from the rear. I slowed down and the signal got stronger as this truck approached. Now I'm doing 65 and sure enough, he was hiding behind the truck and came flying out and nailed the guy who was right behind me when I first picked up the signal, moved over and slowed down. I would never have thought he was behind me without the V1' arrows.

mrkool

10-12-12, 07:18 PM

Viva V1 FTW

V locity

10-13-12, 01:34 AM

K40 RL360 with EX2 laser defuser and have nothing but good things to say about it !! I spent a little extra and bought the nav-tv GR-R40 Radar detector interface that shows warnings and On/Off status of the K40 radar detector as messges on the cluster instead of the detector's own LEDs.

98525
98526

+! on the K40. About a year on mine & no tickets yet... I have 2 EX2s on the front & one on the back...

Brian in GA

10-13-12, 01:32 PM

I wanted a windshield mount radar detector so I can move it from vehicle to vehicle so I chose the 9500ix. The Valantine V1 came highly recommended as well but the shear amount of false signals that I may incur in a city like Atlanta steered me away. I liked the GPS which will memorize repeat signals and I believe automatically switch from city to highway mode based on the speed of the car.

I will also be getting the Laser Interceptor with 3 or 4 heads for the V for the occasional testing session. There are too many cars around here for 15-20 on a regular basis so I really can only drive as fast as traffic allows which is 10-15 over and the cops on the highway don't even lift their heads for 10 over.

Thanks for all of your input. I have 30 days to return it to Best Buy if I don't like it, no questions asked.

Brian

thebigjimsho

10-13-12, 04:24 PM

There is a construction area where I live where fines are $250 plus and it is a magnet for cops. Whenever the cops are in that area my detector always goes off. My guess would be that they are not there every time I go by therefore the detector doesn't "remember" the area and mark it as a non threat. Also the chances of the radar gun being the exact same frequency is minimal. Several different cops hang out in that area and they use different guns (frequencies).
The other important item is the different radar bands. The newer band seems to be KA and I don't believe box stores use that band. I also don't think that the radar detector marks KA band as non threats because they are utilized by LEO only.

They don't. When I hear Ka, I notice!

----------

I use a V1. I mount it in multiple cars but I have a blendmouint for it in my CTS-V. I need to hard wire it but I've just been plugging it in. Laser detection is pretty much useless unless you happen to have a car in front of you that the laser bounces off of. If he directly targets you with the laser, your detector is just telling you that you are about to get pulled over. I find they use Laser a good bit in NY State. I do a lot of traveling and Ka seems to be the most used on the east coast. I have X turned off as very few Police still us that. It is usually those traffic radar signs that use X.

I like the 9500ci for all the bells and whistles but I honestly, I don't like that it will capture false radar spots and not signal on them again. I know one department in my area sets up in an area where you always pick up a radar signal. Maybe you can turn that off. The other things it can do are cool, but I really don't need them. It gets very good reviews so I think it certainly a contender.

I have had 2 V1's and the first I had for many years. I threw it in when selling a car so I bought a new one 4 years ago and it has never let me down. You learn how to pick up real signals from fake ones but it does take some time to learn it. Some will say the arrows on the V1 are a gimmiick. Just today I was coming back from Albany, NY on 87 and I kept picking up a moderate signal from the rear. I slowed down and the signal got stronger as this truck approached. Now I'm doing 65 and sure enough, he was hiding behind the truck and came flying out and nailed the guy who was right behind me when I first picked up the signal, moved over and slowed down. I would never have thought he was behind me without the V1' arrows.

NY Staties were early adopters of laser. I got nailed in upstate NY in '96 by laser. From 1.5 miles away. My V1 told me. However, I find they use Ka almost exclusively now. And they tend to keep them on all the time. The V1 picks it up beautifully.

However, for being useless against laser, I highly disagree. Laser fragments have been caught by my V1 from reflections of the tile walls in the Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston. Some punk kid in a Civic had beem blocking me for a couple of miles when I was hustling to the airport for a pickup. The officer had targeted another vehicle in front of us when the V1 caught it. There is a bend so there was no direct line of sight. It HAD TO BE fragments. As I was passing the punk, caught it and slowed down. The punk got nabbed instead. There have been other instances where the V1 caught fragments through the windows of cars in front of me that I was catching up to.

One time I was driving my parent's '72 2002 down from a friend's wedding in ME. I was in NH and my Ka kept going off with the arrow behind. The pulses got stronger. Maybe every 20 seconds. I got to the speed limit and stayed there. But everytime the Ka went off I'd tap my brakes. I did this right to the point the NH state trooper was on my tail. Since I had 2 bad experiences(1 with a trooper tailgating me badly at 3AM and citing me for 82 in a 65 when I had passed him with someone else pulled over and kept the cruise on at 62) with troopers, my attitude left me to want to play games. He hit me with Ka about another 3-4 times and then blew past me. Everytime I was tappimg my brakes. Not the smartest thing to do but in a small way it satisfied my need for retribution. I wouldn't do that now...

Mike02z

10-13-12, 05:27 PM

However, for being useless against laser, I highly disagree.

Just to clarify Jim, what I said was "Laser detection is pretty much useless unless you happen to have a car in front of you that the laser bounces off of.". What you said was exactly my point, the laser bounced off another reflective surface and your V1 picked it up. Without that reflective surface, you would not stand a chance. It would be too late once the detector went off. NY may be mostly Ka but one hit me with laser on Thursday. I was only doing 70.

JFJr

10-13-12, 06:46 PM

I haven't tried jammers yet, but it sounds like they are about as sophisticated as the equipment I used in the USAF 45 years ago. I would be worried about radar noise jammers fairly close to the engine computers. Again, common sense is the best defense, in conjunction with a good detector. Laser detection absolutely relies on scatter, and if you're not close enough to a car ahead of you that is being targeted, you're toast. Much the same with radar; if you're not behind a car a few miles ahead that gets targeted, instant on radar will get a reading unless you do a panic deceleration, in which case you will probably get a ticket for reckless driving or get rear-ended if you're in traffic.

Jud

RGaret

10-14-12, 12:11 AM

I have a question. I assume that police cars of all types these days have some sort of GPS transponder installed so that their location can be known at all times. If I am correct, does the technology exist to tap into this and know where they are whether or not they are using radar or laser? Wouldn't this be much more effective?

Mike02z

10-14-12, 12:18 AM

Probably be awesome but the GPS the police uses is probably not open to track by the public. At least that would be my guess. Think about it, crooks could see where the cops were and then target other areas.

RGaret

10-14-12, 12:39 AM

Probably be awesome but the GPS the police uses is probably not open to track by the public. At least that would be my guess. Think about it, crooks could see where the cops were and then target other areas.

They could do that now with a good scanner. All they would need is to know they are in the general area. I agree with you however, if this technology did exist, someone would have figured how to use it for speeding ticket avoidance by now.

Wannago

10-14-12, 12:51 AM

Ok, for good honest, down to earth unbiased opinions, here is a great forum:

http://www.radardetectorforum.org/forum.php

No radar detector can be all thigns to all people, but it is pretty well accepted that the Beltronics STiR Plus is the current king of the hill. This is a custom-installed unit as opposed to a windshiled mount version. The performance and features are pretty much second to none. I will admit that I do own this unit, but did tons of research before buying it as I knew I wanted the best, so I am not just saying this because I own it. It is basically an updqated 9500ci, but unlike that, it doesn't come with laser jammers - they are an optional add-on. This is a good thing, becasue when it comes to jammers, the "Belscort" products (ie. Betronics / Escort -same Company) are not the best available.

I also run a V1 (ver 1.85 3.893) which as discussed, is one of the best windshield mount units available. The Escort Redline has a bit better range than the V1, but the V1 is much more responsive to instant on / quick trigger type shots, that the "sleepy" redline can miss. When I hit the highways, I run the V1 along with my STiR PLus, and the two of them together compliment each other nicely and are a formidable combination. The rear antenna and arrows of the V1 are HUGE benefits. The V1 can be chatty in the city, but you can turn of X and K band (if not used in your area) which makes it nice and quiet - until it needs to be.

As far as laser goes, both the STiR Plus and the V1 detect laser, although I have laser turned off on my STiR Plus. The V1 is VERY sensistive to laser, but generally speaking, if you get a laser alert, you probably already have a ticket. Some detectors may alert to scatter from a shot on another vehicle, but if you want real protection from laser, you need jammers. The best jammers on the market are Laser Interceptors (and yes, I have these too). Numerous independent tests have proven this. However, Blinder has a new model, the 905, which has performed very well in tests. It is a relatively new model, so they are constantly upgrading their firmware.

Here's a video showing how freaky good the V1 is at detecting laser:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-oOCDgePMY

Here's a video from this summer of my STiR Plus and my V1 detecting a brief, instant on Ka shot from approx 4.5 miles away (you have to listen close, but they both alert at the exact same time at about the 9 second mark), and then showing how the rear antenna of the V1 picked up the rear instant on shot the cop took at me as I drove under an overpass, and the arrows told me exactly where to look. As you can see, the STiR Plus (without a rear antenna) detected the reflected radr signal, but it took 6 seconds to alert and even at that, it was only a very weak alert.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RQM2qjfGDM

Trust me on this...if you're going to buy something, spend the money and get the best you can afford (but do your homework) the last thing you want with this stuff is a false sense of security

rogueag

10-15-12, 09:16 AM

I am using a Bel GX65 coupled with a laser shifter. I like the GPS for blocking out various K band store security systems. The shifter works well for me. Someone stated about shutting off the system afte it goes off. The shifter shuts down automatically after about 5 seconds. I am happy with both because they work for me in many different situations. Just my thoughts.

Wannago

10-15-12, 09:36 AM

Agreed. First rule of using jammers, immediately slow down to the posted speed limit then turn them off (called Jam Then Kill or JTK). NEVER jam them right to the gun....cops aren't stupid and you're just asking for trouble. Most jammers have an automatic shutdown, but most people do it themselves and can JKT much quicker with much less suspicion. Five seconds is quite a long jam, considering laser guns can get a reading in less than a second.

McGuffy

10-15-12, 08:23 PM

The mirror mount wiring is very easy to do. If you're looking at http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/2009-cadillac-cts-v-general-discussion/221031-v1-hardwire-install-2011-cts-v.html, the only change in my '12 is that the toggled ground is right next to the hot. The detector comes on as soon as you open a door, and stays on for a few min after you exit the car, but it does shut down. I'll grab some pix the next time I rip the console out.